Congaree National Park sits in the heart of South Carolina, within 30 minutes of the state's capital. It was protected because it is was one of the last places in the country to have a large hardwood forest on a flood plane.
The flood plane, which floods an average of 10 times a year, provides the trees with fresh nutrients from upstream allowing them to grow incredibly tall. The park features 25 "champion trees" - trees that are the tallest of their species in the country.
The most interesting of the trees to us was the Bald Cyprus, which features "knees" - roots that grow back up out of the ground. Scientist's best guess as to why they grow these is to provide stability during high wind, but that remains just a guess.
Because the park is on a flood plane, water sits around making the perfect spawning ground for mosquitoes. Luckily for us, the temperatures have been close to or below freezing, so we had the "All Clear".
In the park, we went on a 7-mile loop hike. There are only a few hikes in the forest, most of them loops that expand on each other, a 2-mile boardwalk trail, a 4-mile loop follows the boardwalk then branches out. The hike we did branched out from that 4-mile loop, all of them ending on the boardwalk again. The boardwalk is nice because there are 20 sign posts referencing you to the boardwalk tour where they tell you facts about the history and biology of the park. Pets are also allowed in this park, so Aiden was able to join us again!
All-in-all it was a unique park that we're super glad we visited. There just wasn't too much to do to warrant more than a day or two without going fully into their designated wilderness.
For our science nerds out there - good news! The amphibians of Congaree have not been hit very hard by Chytrid. We asked the ranger and the front desk who had no idea what we were talking about. But he kindly called their wildlife biologist who said that they have not been hit very hard. We were pleasantly surprised.
For our science nerds out there - good news! The amphibians of Congaree have not been hit very hard by Chytrid. We asked the ranger and the front desk who had no idea what we were talking about. But he kindly called their wildlife biologist who said that they have not been hit very hard. We were pleasantly surprised.
Here's a bonus picture of Declan contemplating a beverage.
I've been there, didn't know it was a national park though. It was shortly after Hugo went through, who I image was responsible for that huge root-ball Kathleen is posing with. My sister worked for USC at the time. -Mark
ReplyDeleteYep, Hugo took down a ton of the old trees! It became a national monument in 1976 and a National Park in 2003, so I guess it wouldn't have been a park when you were here.
DeleteI always thought the knees were for getting part of the root out of the water, as the rest is typically always submerged. That must have been discarded, if they are now considered structural. The cypresses were harvested severely, not so much for the wood, but rather for the turpentine industry. Cheers
ReplyDeleteInteresting! I hadn't thought about the roots needing to be out of water, is that necessary? Apparently they still don't really know why they exist.
DeleteN requests more pictures of you two and more updates!
ReplyDeleteWe can do more pictures of us! We'll try our best to update more often, especially if it's for N. Give her our love!
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